Here at RouterGod Magazine we always try to keep our
finger on the pulse of Cisco certification. Recently Cisco
announced that they were removing VOIP from the Routing / Switching
lab and putting it in the Voice lab effective Jaunary 1, 2005.
We approached Hollywood babe Jennifer Connolly and asked her to
speak with Cisco Program Director Sanjay Babaganoush about this
change.

JenniferCisco recently announced
that effective January 1st, 2005 there would no longer be IP
Telephony in the RS lab, why the change?

SanjayOh my, yes, where to start?
Oh, so many problems. We had many unexpected problems, so we,
ahhh, make change.

JenniferProblems? Can you
elaborate?

SanjayThe test candidates were
misusing the phones.

JenniferMisusing the phones?
I don't understand.

SanjayOh, where to start, OK, the
candidates wouldoften connect their phones to our IP phone
systemat Cisco and use the phones to make unauthorized
calls.

JenniferVery interesting, what
type of calls?

SanjayAt first they would do
harmless things like order pizzas and call in to radio shows, then
they would progress to other things like calling Cisco support and
opening help desk tickets to assist with their labs and sometimes
they would page the proctors and get them to leave the room so they
could compare notes.

JenniferVery clever, when did you
first notice this?

SanjayWe discovered early on that
the candidates would actually place calls to each other and we would
see them whispering into the phones. We also discovered many calls
placed to India which indicates they were seeking tech
support. Some candidates would even operate long distance
pre-paid phone card businesses right from the lab. We soon
decided to remove the phones.

JenniferI see, how do you keep the
same thing from happening in the Voice Lab?

SanjayWe replaced the phones with
older phones that gothrough a live operator, this was the only
waywe could stop the monkey business.